I do love maps. I don't have a SatNav in my car because I am so wedded to my gorgeous A-Zs of London and the Collins Road Atlas of Britain. Physical maps and atlases are so much nicer to pore over, and dream from, than flat screens. Not least because you can do such dreaming in a comfy armchair, accompanied by a cup of tea and a bar of Green & Blacks. I am like this when I visit a place as well; I'd much rather have a guide book than internet access. I'm not usually such a luddite, but with maps and travel guides I think I always will be.
At the moment these lovelies are on my reading pile, as I plan a European trip with the children over the long summer holidays. This year might be the only time I have the entire six-week school holidays off with them, so I am going to make the most of it and do some travelling that I've never been able to do before.
Switzerland is definitely on the itinerary, as is France. And I am also drawn to those little, tiny countries that I only know about from general knowledge quizzes: Andorra, Lichtenstein and Luxembourg.
Really, I'm almost as excited about our trip as this Michelin man - surfing his way across central Europe!
The only bit of online assistance I've had has been Mappy - an excellent European wide route planner, very similar to the one the AA does for the UK. I love how it calculates the cost of your trip for you - petrol and tolls.
And in other map-related love, I am very excited about the free exhibition, Magnificent Maps, which is on at the British Library from now until the middle of September. When I've finished going through my own stack of maps and guidebooks, I shall be paying it a visit. And I bet there isn't a TomTom or Garmin anywhere to be seen.
Oh, I love maps too. Hoping to go and see the exhibition en route to Brussels this summer.
ReplyDeleteI do like a good map but I'm faithfully wedded to my satnav - I have a woeful sense of direction and driving for me was previously limited to very short local journeys or tearful, stressful longer ones with frequent stops to consult the map and curse my ridiculous brain - how could it remember entore metabolic pathways and not the route to my parents' house?
ReplyDeleteNow I still rant, but it's at the radio rather than the map :-)
Ask Mappy which crossing is best from England South to Brittany West! Our jury's still out! No technology in our car either, although I do catch Prince Charming stalking some on eBay intermittently!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could do that trip. I love Switzerland. We did intend to do one once but got sidetracked. Good luck and have fun.
ReplyDeleteThere was a smashing exhibition on maps a few years ago, I wonder if it's the same one? There was a lovely one of a newly discovered piece of coast and mountains that some hapless junior had been told to go and map, and he had named outcrops etc with rude references to his superiors. I love maps, the kid in me just adores them, especially finding names that sound a bit rude. i still have my maps of Portugal and Spain from cycling their whole length, i will keep them forever.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have an amazing trip to look forward to!
ReplyDeleteAnd while I love maps from an aesthetic standpoint, I'm not always such a good navigator, as G will be the first to tell you!
K x
I like maps too-R is also a big big fan. I went to Switzerland years ago, camping, and it is BEAUTIFUL. So unspoilt, clean and fabulous. I went to some great parts of Germany on the same trip-The Black Forest in particular stays in my memory. How exciting to have 6 weeks to fill with new places to explore togther. That's what I call a holiday!!x
ReplyDeleteI'm so looking forward to this trip. Vicariously.
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful! Unfortunately with a very bad sense of direction, I need my Sat-Nav! xx
ReplyDeleteTotally exciting! Let me know if you'd like any thoughts on Switzerland and did you notice that you now have a map with the Czech Republic on it? We're really just down the road.
ReplyDeleteI love maps too. I do have a Garmin and it's handy but it just isn't the same in seeing the WHOLE picture.
ReplyDeleteI live in Texas and have a huge road map book in the truck. I'm always ready to pull it out to navigate FM (farm to market) roads but my husband always hesitates. I always tell him to trust the navigator! And if the navigator is wrong, then he can blame the navigator! I love to take the road less traveled.